Napa mother, boyfriend charged with murder, assault in 3-year-old's death

Vallejo Times-Herald

Posted:
02/04/2014 12:48:27 PM PST

Updated:
02/04/2014 07:00:25 PM PST

NAPA -- A Napa couple allegedly told police they placed a 3-year-old girl's body in a freezer and later removed it before leaving their apartment Saturday morning, the Napa County district attorney said Tuesday.

District Attorney Gary Lieberstein went into no detail, but told reporters that Sara Lynn Krueger, 23, and her 26-year-old boyfriend Ryan Scott Warner spoke to Napa police Sunday after they were arrested. The information about the freezer came from those interviews, he alleged.

Lieberstein said police were told that 3-year-old Kayleigh Slusher -- Krueger's daughter -- was stored in a freezer.

According to a police arrest form, Krueger and Warner admitted to police that the child was found deadfrom "unknown circumstances." For three days, they allegedly stored her body in a suitcase and then placed the body in a freezer, according to the same document.

Kayleigh's lifeless body was discovered Saturday afternoon after an anonymous tipster called police and suggested they make a welfare check on the girl. It was the third time in a week officers had responded to Krueger's apartment to check on the girl's safety.